As a child, I did not understand why neighbors and parents treat our neighbor who worked in kindergarten with great respect. It wasn’t until many years later that I realized that her little purse was hiding a big secret…
Her name was Faina Pavlovna. She worked all her life in the same kindergarten. Nanny — in the sixties, when they took my mother there from the nursery. And in the kitchen — in the eighties, when they sent me there. She lived in our building.
If you turn your head from the window to the left, you could see below and obliquely the balcony of her apartment — all seated with marigolds and with the same chair, on which, in good weather, her disabled husband sat for hours. They didn’t have children.
It was rumored that the old man lost his leg in the war, and she, still very young, pulled him out from under the bullets after the explosion
So she dragged on herself further all her life, faithfully and faithfully. Either out of compassion or out of love. She spoke of him as if with a capital letter, with respect. And she never mentioned the name: “Sam”, “He”.
In kindergarten, I rarely talked to her. I remember only in the younger group of the kindergarten (or in the nursery?) We were put in pairs and led in formation from the wing of the building down to the assembly hall. There was a portrait on the wall. «Who is this?» — the teacher brought each child to him individually. It was necessary to give the correct answer. But for some reason I was embarrassed and fell silent.
Faina Pavlovna came up. She gently stroked my head and suggested: «Grandfather Lenin.» Everyone had a relative like this. By the way, he died at the age of 53. That is, he was as old as Hugh Jackman and Jennifer Aniston are now. But — «grandfather».
Faina Pavlovna also seemed old to me. But in fact, she was a little over sixty (today’s age of Sharon Stone and Madonna, by the way). Everyone looked older then. And they seemed to last forever.
She was also one of those strong, mature women who never seemed to get sick.
And in any weather every day, clearly according to the schedule, she went to the service. In the same simple cloak and scarf. She moved vigorously, but not fussily. She was very polite. She smiled at her neighbors. Walked briskly. And she was always accompanied by the same small reticule bag.
With her, and returned home from work in the evening. Many years later, I understood why my parents respected her so much and why she always had only a small handbag with her.
Working in a kindergarten, next to the kitchen, Faina Pavlovna, even in the era of empty shops, in principle never took food from children. The small handbag was an indicator of her honesty. In memory of the sisters who died of starvation in the war. A symbol of human dignity.